


What It Takes

by PC_The_Unicorn



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Oscar needs more utilization within the show overall, Oscar storyline in volume 4 was to short, Volume 4 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PC_The_Unicorn/pseuds/PC_The_Unicorn
Summary: While Oscar was adamant about not leaving his home or only family behind, a chat with his Aunt Em changed all of that. This is meant to serve as a bridge between Oscar telling Ozpin that he's not leaving his home and Oscar finally leaving the farm.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	What It Takes

**Author's Note:**

> While I knew Oscar hasn't always been utilized the best within the show, rewatching volume 4 made me realize just how underutilized he was since his storyline in volume 4 is way too short and skipped over a lot of pivotal character moments. Because of that, I decided to write this fic that explores what leads to Oscar leaving his home. And special thanks to NanoTwentyFaces for recommending the title of the fic. Enjoy the fic!

Oscar whistled blissfully as he washed the last plate from the sink before putting it away in the dish rack. While he may have grown accustomed to doing the various chores on the farm over the years and they didn't typically leave him that exhausted due to his Aunt Em not overworking him, he still appreciated those days when she allowed him to take it easy. He woke up bright and early to tend to the fields, yet he found his aunt already tending to it and telling him that he could take a day off. Now while this gift wasn’t out of the ordinary, it was usually reserved for special occasions such as his birthday, holidays or if the task he completed the day before was more extraneous than normal. He asked Aunt Em if she was sure she didn’t want him to help her, but she insisted that he relax and let her take of the chores. He ended up spending most of the day reading a book underneath the shade of a tree not too far away from the farm with the occasional break. Though while his aunt surprised him once again by actually bringing sandwiches and lemonade to him instead of having to go to the house for lunch, the biggest surprise was dinner when not she not only made her famous beef casserole but also her mouthwatering brownies. With how his aunt treated him the entire day, he had to practically beg her aunt to let him put away the food and take care of the dishes since she already did so much for him. This was honestly one of the best days Oscar has had for a while.

 _Oscar,_ the voice known as Ozpin said softly.

Oscar let out a sigh in annoyance. Just when it seemed like everything was perfect, his day had to be ruined due to the disembodied voice of Ozpin talking to him. For a moment, he was almost convinced that the voice that has been talking to him for the past few weeks was his imagination. But sadly, that wasn’t the case.

_I’m sorry Oscar, I didn’t mean to ruin your day. But pretending that I’m not in your head won’t simply make me go away. We both know that._

And if having another voice in his was bad enough, it was even worse when Ozpin replied to something he haven’t even said yet due to him being able to tell what was on his mind. "Well you could have at least stayed quiet for the entire day," Oscar replied bitterly. "For one moment, I almost felt normal again."

_I understand your frustration and I am once again sorry for you having to be the burden of this. But that doesn't change the fact that we have to leave._

Oscar clenched his fist as he attempted to keep his voice down. "And I told you that I'm not going to leave! You want me to leave my home and the only family I have to embark on a journey to save the entire world! I'm a 14-year-old farmhand! Not a hero!"

 _True, you may not be a hero, but you have the potential to be one._ Ozpin replied. _When I reincarnate, I don't come back in just anyone's body. I always come back in the body of someone similar to myself who shares some of my characteristics, ideals, and values. Like me, you want to be a hero who helped those in need because it's the right thing to do, you have a strong sense of morals and you can even be snarky similar to how I can be. I know asking you to leave the life you've known for years is hard to do and that you're just a child, but if we don't leave things are only going to get worse in Remnant._

Before Oscar could retort, he was interrupted by his aunt.

"Oscar!" Aunt Em called out. "Can you come out in the living room? I want to talk to you."

Oscar sighed as he tried to calm himself down. The last thing he wanted for his aunt to wonder why he was so winded up despite everything she did for him today. "Look, just stay quiet while I go see what my aunt wants, okay?"

When he heard nothing but silence, Oscar took that as a yes and went through the door frame that leads to his living room. Sitting on the couch with a small smile on her face and dressed in dark blue overalls, stained brown boots, and a white shirt was Emily Pine. Though she preferred to be called Aunt Em by him. If anyone were to see the two together, no one would have a hard time believing that they were related. Like Oscar, Emily had the same tanned skin, hazel colored eyes, and unkempt black hair. Though while his hair was short and mildly unkempt, her hair went down to her shoulders with it being much wilder. She also towered over him by a foot and a half, a thing she constantly joked about with Oscar and saying how he needs to get his growth spurt already.

As he sat down next to her, he looked at his aunt in concern. She looked a bit somber as if something bad has happened yet everything today has been close to perfect. "Is everything okay Aunt Em?"

Aunt Em chuckles slightly. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not oblivious Oscar," Aunt Em replied sternly. "For the past couple of weeks, I can tell something have been bothering you despite how hard you've been trying to hide it from me. You seem to be agitated by something, you're quiet during dinner, and I've overheard you having conversations with yourself. I gave you the day off to help relax you since something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me about anything, so please, tell me what has been on your mind."

Oscar averts his gaze from his aunt and look down in guilt. It was clear that Aunt Em was concerned for him and wanted to know what was bothering him, but what was he supposed to say? _Well, you see Aunt Em, the former headmaster of Beacon died and ended up becoming a voice in my head. But he's not just the headmaster of Beacon, he's this ancient warrior task with protecting humanity that always reincarnates in someone when he dies which is now me. So as his newest host, I have to leave you so I can embark on a quest to save all of Remnant._ He couldn't even begin to imagine how Aunt Em would react to all of that! Yet he knew how stubborn his aunt could be and saying that nothing has been bothering him wouldn't work since she would just keep on pressing him for answers. Maybe he couldn't tell her the full truth, but he could at least tell him a truth about himself that Ozpin pointed out to him.

"I guess I've just been wondering if this is all I'm going to do in life," Oscar explained. "Almost every day, it's the same thing. I wake up, do my chores, we talk, we eat, I read and then I go to bed. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for everything you've done for me and I enjoy living here, but I wonder if I shouldn't be doing more with my life. We pretty much live in the middle of nowhere, I've never traveled further than the town nearby and there's just so much of the world I haven't seen along with things I've never gotten to experience."

Saying it out loud, Oscar realized just how true this was despite his past attempts of pretending that it wasn't the case. Even before Ozpin ever entered his head, these thoughts have been in his head for a while now, and Ozpin bringing up his desire to be more than a farmhand simply made them more prevalent. He'd be lying if he didn't say some minuscule part of him found the idea of embarking on an adventure to be thrilling but he still found the whole notion along with his situation to be crazy! He was broken out of his train of thought though when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and saw his aunt smiling at him.

"There's no need for you to apologize Oscar," Aunt Em reassured. "It's perfectly normal for you to be wondering these things. You actually remind me of my sister. She could never stay still and wanted to see as much of Remnant as they could."

Oscar smiled slightly at the mention of his mother. Unlike Aunt Em, who was content with living simple farmer life, his mother wanted more in life and decided to leave home once she turned 18 and have saved up enough to travel around Remnant. It was during her travel that would lead her to meet her eventual husband, a small-time dust merchant who sold his shop to travel with her. They soon got married and had him as they spent their first few years together living on the farm. When he was 5, all of them were supposed to take a trip to Atlas but because he was stricken down with a fever, Aunt Em stayed behind with both of them insisting they still take the trip. Unfortunately, that was the last time they saw them since during the trip to Atlas, a village they were staying in became overrun with Grimm slaughtering almost all of the inhabitants. He still remembers how much he mourned for his parents and blamed himself for insisting they went without him. And while Aunt Em was sad about what had happened and no doubt felt equally as guilty, she stayed strong for him and have raised him as if he was her son.

"While I've done the best I could for you, I feel bad for you not getting to experience more in life," Aunt Em continued. "It's like you said, your life is pretty repetitive. And while you're lucky to have such a cool and funny aunt like me, you should have gotten a chance to make friends instead of just having just me and your books for company. I’m sorry for that. Just know that if you want to leave the farm one day and explore the world, I won't hold it against you."

"Thanks Aunt Em but you don't have to apologize," Oscar replied. "If anyone should be saying sorry, it should be me for keeping something like this from you. I didn't mean to keep you worried."

Aunt Em frowned. "Hang on mister, you don't get to apologize to me. I'm the adult and if I say it's my fault, then it's my fault. End of discussion!"

The two stared at each other with stern expressions as neither wanted to give in for the next few seconds before both began to laugh over the other behavior. Oscar couldn't help but find it hilarious how his aunt could even be stubborn about wanting to apologize for something.

As the laughter died down, Aunt Em smiled at Oscar. "Honestly, I wish we could take a trip somewhere but with what happened with Beacon and the destruction of the CCT tower, I'm afraid of risking any trips outside the general area."

At the mention of Beacon and the CCT tower, various memories of things he shouldn't have no recollection of seeing suddenly crossed his mind. Grimm running through the streets, Atlesian Soldiers attacking civilians, huntsman and huntresses fighting the Grimm and a giant flying Grimm heading toward the school. He knew that what he just witnessed was what Ozpin saw during the fall of Beacon and Oscar couldn't help but frown at all the destruction and loss of lives. Though he was snapped out of it by his aunt squeezing his hand.

"I'm not sure what's in store for you Oscar, but I have a feeling that you're destined for something special. When you go out into the world, you'll no doubt meet all types of interesting people and make friendships that will last a lifetime. Who knows, maybe you'll meet a cute nice girl and I can expect some grandchildren."

Oscar face turned a deep shade of red over the last sentence. "Aunt Em!" Oscar yelled as his aunt cracked up over his reaction. It didn't help matter that he could even hear Ozpin trying his best to stifle a chuckle from Oscar's embarrassment. After a few more moments of laughing, Aunt Em stood and kissed Oscar on the forehead. 

"I'm glad we had this talk Oscar. You know you can talk to me about anything, no matter how major or minor it may be, right?"

Oscar nodded. "Yeah Aunt Em, I know."

Smiling at Oscar's answer, Aunt Em started to make her way upstairs. Yet before she made it too far, Oscar called out to her.

"Aunt Em," Oscar called out.

"Yes?"

Oscar struggled with the words he wanted to say. He wanted to tell his aunt the whole truth. He wanted to tell her about Ozpin and how he's being told he has to leave to save all of Remnant. Yet instead of any of those things, he ended up saying only one truth. "I love you."

She smiled back. "I love you too Oscar."

Aunt Em finished making her war upstairs with Oscar knowing she made it to her room once the door was closed shut. Oscar sat in on the couch in silence for the next few minutes before breaking it. "I guess I can thank you for not interrupting while I was talking to my Aunt or tried stopping me when I wanted to tell her what was actually bothering me."

 _I would do no such thing Oscar._ Ozpin replied. _I can tell that you wanted to talk to your aunt as much as she wanted to talk to you. I also wouldn't have robbed you of the decision to tell your aunt about me since it's your choice to make._

Oscar chuckled bitterly. "So, I guess I have a say in the matter over that but not over rejecting what I have to do."

 _Oscar-_ Ozpin began to say but was interrupted by Oscar.

"You tell me things are going to get worse in Remnant, but how much worse?" Oscar asked. "Is what happened to Beacon going to happen to all the kingdoms?"

_Yes_

"And even though me and my aunt are away from all the danger, it would only be a matter of time before what's happening come to our doorstep, correct."

_… Yes._

Oscar sighed in defeat. "Well then, I have no choice. As much as I hate admitting it, you're right, I do want more in life. And while I still find this whole thing absolutely crazy, but if I really can help people, prevent what happened at Beacon from happening again and protect my aunt, I'll do it. Just…promise me that when this is all over, I'll be able to come back and explain to my aunt why I left."

Ozpin was silent for a moment. The last thing he wanted to do was make a promise to Oscar that he wasn't certain he could keep. Yet Oscar was finally willing to leave the farm even though he still had hesitations. If he were honest with him, it would no doubt only delay their journey even further. So while what he was about to say wasn't the total truth, he vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to make sure Oscar would be able to see his aunt again.

_I promise._

**Author's Note:**

> And there you go! This is the first fanfiction I've ever written for RWBY, so I was a bit scared about capturing Oscar and Ozpin characters but I think I did a pretty good job in nailing both their personalities. And while we know pretty much nothing about Aunt Em, I took what little was gleamed of her personality and combined it with both fannon interpretations along with my own ideas and headcanons. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the fic.


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